Ancient Villages of Northern Syria

• Protection Policy does not adequately integrate cultural landscapes;
• Lack of human and financial resources;
• Development or infrastructure projects that may affect the integrity of the property;
• Management Plan still incomplete and lack of an Action Plan.

Since March 2011:

• Damage of historic buildings due to the use of ancient stones as building material;
• Illegal constructions;
• Use of the sites by internally displaced persons;
• Quarrying

Destruction and ascertained as well as potential threats consequent to the armed conflict in Syria started in March 2011

Not yet drafted

Not yet identified

Total amount provided to the property: USD 202,917 (2001-2010: Technical and Financial Assistance from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture in the framework of France-UNESCO Cooperation).

Total amount provided to the six Syrian World Heritage properties:

2.46 million Euros by the European Union (for World Heritage, movable and intangible heritage)

200000 USD by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage in Bahrain

170000 USD by the Flemish Government

On 14 January 2015, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report for the six World Heritage properties in Syria, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1348/documents. The report details damages to the property in five of the eight archaeological parks (one out of three in the governorate of Aleppo; four out of five in the governorate of Idlib) highlighting that some parks are not accessible due to the presence of armed groups.

In addition to the damages reported in 2014, the State Party reports considerable damages due to the use of heavy machinery and bulldozers to dig the sites and break ancient stones in order to reuse them in new illegal constructions. In Jebel Sem’an, at Qal’at Sem’an Park, the northern, western and north-eastern areas of the main Saint Simeon monastery have been damaged as well as the Triumphal arch and the mosaic floor in the bath area. In the same park, at Sitt ar-Roum, the church masonry has been destroyed and smashed into building material, and at Refade ten residential illegal constructions have been built. In Jebel Barisha Park, the sites of Baqirha, Deiroune and Dar Qita have been affected; in Jebel Zawiye Park, the town of al-Bara has been vandalized and damaged on a massive scale; as have the sites of Btirsa, Mujleya, Ba’uda and Bshilla. In Jebel Wastani Park, Kafr Aqareb and al-Fassouq have also incurred damages.

The State Party also reports the following:

• illicit excavations in the Qal’at Sam’an park, at Rafade, Btirsa, Mujleya, Ba’uda, Bshilla and Kafr Aqareb. In al-Bara detectors have been used by locals to unearth ancient coins and a tomb revealed by the digs has been vandalized.
• the olive trees inside and near the Saint Simeon castle have been destroyed by armed groups who also prevented landowners  from harvesting nearby.
• refugees have set up home within the ancient buildings of Serjilla, Jerade and Shinsharah in Jebel Zawiye, and caused damages by digging latrines and the construction of some walls.
• the State Party has taken measures to monitor the damages and cooperate with the local communities and the internally-displaced populations to try and for reduce the extent of the damages.

In addition to these damages and to those reported in 2014, satellite images provided in the December 2014 UNITAR/UNOSAT report show in Shinshara the construction of a new 135m wall, multiple areas of disturbed soil, visible looting holes and approximately 80 new structures built amongst the ruins. The images show 29 shelters located in Rabi'ah and 22 in Serjilla. Other sources report damages at Kherbet Kseibjeh and vandalism and looting at Kafr Hwar (probably in historical locations close to the property boundaries).

See item 36 of this Document (General decision on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic).


36. General Decision on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic

Current conservation issues

The armed conflict in Syria started in March 2011 and has constantly escalated leading to significant violence and degradation of humanitarian conditions. Since the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2014, the destruction of Syria’s exceptional archaeological, urban and architectural heritage has reached a deplorably high level and has continued to seriously affect all six inscribed properties, the twelve sites inscribed on the Tentative List, and a wide number of highly significant cultural heritage sites all over Syria. Cultural heritage in Syria continues to be damaged by shelling, street fighting, targeted explosions, extensive illegal excavations, and use for military purposes and as military training areas, construction violations, and quarrying, in addition to intentional destructions and inappropriate use of archaeological sites by internally displaced populations. 

On 14 January 2015, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report with detailed information on the destruction and damage at the six World Heritage properties, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/39COM/documents. On 12 February 2015, the State Party submitted the state of conservation report of all the sites on the Tentative List and a report on the intentional destruction of built heritage. These reports represent an official statement from the Syrian authorities and collate available information from the branches of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) and from social media. However, the State Party notes that ground access in Syria is extremely limited for heritage experts, and the full extent of the damage to World Heritage properties cannot be assessed in detail at this time. Therefore, the reports do not provide first-hand information on several sites, in particular the Ancient City of Aleppo and the Ancient City of Bosra, and thus do not allow a full understanding of the extent of damage to the properties. For the preparation of the state of conservation reports for the World Heritage Committee, additional information was sought from civil society organizations, international organizations, local experts and the media to supplement official data.

The State Party reported on the work carried out by the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), despite the difficult working conditions, to monitor the World Heritage properties and cultural heritage in general, assess damages, undertake emergency conservation and risk mitigation actions whenever possible, and inventory built and movable heritage. The report also stressed the DGAM efforts in raising local awareness and highlighted the positive role played by local communities in some cases to safeguard heritage and limit illegal excavations.

The state of conservation report of the sites inscribed on Syria’s Tentative List indicates that:

• In the ‘Noreas of Hama’ site, on 8 August 2014 the Noria-Gaabariyya near al-Nori Mosque was burned down; the fire burned the upper part of the new wooden wheel, while the stone base remained intact; the Hama Municipality immediately started conservation works.
• In the site of ‘Ugrarit (Tell Shamra)’, on 20 July 2014, a fire of non-criminal origin burned some unexcavated parts and few excavated areas without causing major damage to the archaeological remains.
• The site of ‘Ebla (Tell Mardikh)’ has been affected by illegal digs and excavations as well as by natural degradation. Minor destructions are reported at the Acropolis. Recently a new oil-refinery about 400 meters to the West of the site was reported.
• The site of ‘Mari (Tell Hariri)’, in particular the Royal Palace and the Temple area, has been affected by extensive illegal excavations carried out with heavy machinery by armed groups residing in the site’s visitor centre, which, together with the residence of the mission, has been robbed.
• The site of ‘Dura Europos’ has been extensively damaged by looting, vandalism and large-scale illegal excavations carried out with heavy machinery; the looting involves the participation of hundreds of local inhabitants in economic need, who are reportedly paid by the armed groups controlling the site and a third of the discoveries’ estimated value. In October 2014, the armed groups were reported to use the archaeological site as a military shelter.
• The site of ‘Qasr al-Hayr ach-Charqi: a desert Castle’ has been occupied by armed groups since 2013. The castle and the surrounding area have been damaged by digs, looting and vandalism. The excavation house has been robbed.
• In the site of ‘Maaloula’, damages, looting and vandalism were reported in most of the monasteries, churches and shrines, and in the old town, including in the cemetery and in the caves.
• In the site of ‘Raqqa-Rafiqa: the Abassid City’, illegal excavations using heavy machinery at al-Atiq mosque and the destruction of the Sufi shrine within the mosque were reported. One Iwan in the Bimarstan Qasr al-Banat was burned; degradations due to natural factors were observed on the Bagdad city gate and the city walls.
• The site of ‘Apamea (Afamia)’ and its surroundings has been extensively affected by illegal excavations carried out by armed groups who have been targeting mosaics, using heavy machinery and metal detectors (since 2014).
• No damage is reported at the sites of ‘Tartus: the Crusaders Citadel-City’ and of ‘Arwad Island’.

The report on intentional destruction of Syrian built heritage relies mostly on local communities and pictures published in the social media; it indicates that:

In the Aleppo region:

• The shrine of Sheikh Muhammad Nabhan in the Kiltawiye Mosque at Bab al-Hadid, one of the historical gates of the Ancient City of Aleppo World Heritage site, was destroyed on 17 January 2015.
• The DGAM accessed the Shash Hamdan Roman cemetery in Aleppo Province where carved reliefs were deliberately targeted by gunfire and smashed into fragments.
• 90% of Sufi shrines and tombs - not all on the National Register - have been destroyed in the countryside of Aleppo:
• In Northern Aleppo, all the shrines in Menjib have been destroyed, including Maqam Sheikh Aqil al-Manbiji, have the shrines around the Byzantine church and the six Mamluk Shihab al-Din tombs in front of Najim Castle. The shrines in Ezaz were destroyed by bombs, including the Sufi tombs at the archaeological tells of Ezaz, Sawran, Shiekh Rieh, Dabik, and Akhtarin, as well as the tomb of Nabi Daoud in the village of Dwebek.
• According to unverified information, all the tombs in al-Bab district, Zerba Nahiyah, Hader, Atareb, tell al-Daman, Maskanh, al-Khasfa, and Deir Hafir have been destroyed.

In the Deir ez-Zor region:

• The recently built Armenian Genocide Memorial Church and complex in Deir ez-Zor were destroyed on 17 January 2015.
• The Sufi Muslim Uwais al-Quarani mosque and Ammar bin Yasser shrine in Raqqa were destroyed in March 2014.
• The shrine of Wabsa Ibn Mabad al-Assadi within the Great Mosque in the old town of Raqqa-Ràfiqa has been destroyed.
• An armed group blew up and destroyed a sixth-century Byzantine mosaic which was discovered in Tell Saeed near the city of Raqqa.
  • Actions implemented by UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies

On 26-27 May 2014, in the framework of the European Union-funded “Emergency Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage” project, with co-funding from the Flemish government (USD 170,000), UNESCO organized an international expert meeting to help rally the International Community to safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage. 120 international and Syrian experts from 22 countries and UNESCO’s partners took part in this meeting and produced a detailed action plan, which provides short, medium and long term actions to safeguard immovable, movable and intangible heritage.

Since the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee (Doha, 2014), UNESCO has pursued its actions to assist the State Party in its continuous and sustained efforts to safeguard cultural heritage. At the international level, UNESCO raised the awareness of the international community on the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria; these sustained efforts led to the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of Resolution (UNSC) 2139 on 22 February 2014 which called « on all parties to immediately end all violence which has led to human suffering in Syria, save Syria’s rich societal mosaic and cultural heritage, and take appropriate steps to ensure the protection of Syria’s World Heritage Sites ».

On 3 December 2014, UNESCO organised at its headquarters an international conference on the “Protection of Heritage and Cultural Diversity at Risk in Iraq and Syria”, with financial support from the Government of Kuwait, and called for the creation of “protected cultural zones” around cultural heritage sites, suggesting a start could be made with emblematic monuments in the Ancient City of Aleppo.

On 12 February 2015, the UNSC adopted resolution 2199 that condemned the destruction of cultural heritage and adopted legally binding measures to counter illicit trafficking of antiquities and cultural objects from Iraq and Syria and called on UNESCO and other concerned entities to implement this ban.

At the national level, UNESCO has pursued its activities to monitor the situation of Syrian cultural heritage, raise awareness on its protection, undertake short, medium and long-term actions to safeguard it, and coordinate the work of national and international entities working on its safeguarding. In the framework of the European Union-funded “Emergency Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage” project (2.46 million Euros) that was started in March 2014, and  is implemented in partnership with ICOMOS and ICCROM, the following activities were undertaken:

In the framework of the European Union (EU) – funded Project “Emergency Safeguarding of Syria’s Cultural Heritage”

• A Meeting with the DGAM and project partners was held in Paris on 28-29 October 2014 to plan and coordinate actions to safeguard Aleppo’s cultural heritage and museums. The meeting provided technical recommendations and risk mitigation measures for the Ancient City of Aleppo. A Training course on “First Aid to Built Cultural Heritage in Syria” was co-organised by the UNESCO Beirut Project team, led by ICCROM ATHAR and co-funded by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage; the workshop took place at the UNESCO Office in Beirut from 24 November to 6 December 2014 and provided intensive training to 22 DGAM technical staff and representatives of NGOs across Syria. Twenty two professionals from coming from Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa and Homs participated in this intensive course. Participants benefited from the expertise of various professionals who have been involved in several aspects relevant to the fields of: risk assessment, damage assessment, debris management, first aid to cultural heritage, and emergency consolidation of damaged monuments and sites.
• A Workshop on improving inventories of built, movable and intangible cultural heritage, which gathered all relevant partners in this field took place in Beirut from 16 to 18 February 2014 and allowed working towards harmonized data gathering and inventories, in view of future actions to conserve, restore, reconstruct, and organize the fight against illicit trafficking.

In May 2015, the World Heritage Centre will organise a technical meeting on post-war reconstruction in the Middle-East context, focusing on the Ancient City of Aleppo as a case study. The meeting will set out the basic recommendations on reconstruction from the theoretical and practical points of view.

ICOMOS has supported many of these and other initiatives.

Under the Partnership with the UNESCO-EU Project for Emergency Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage (mentioned above) ICOMOS has the following responsabilities:

ICOMOS, including its different International Scientific Committees, commits itself in:

• Assisting UNESCO in the implementation of the EU project as Partner Institution and shall, as needed, propose to UNESCO specialized experts;
• Informing UNESCO about all activities implemented outside the framework of the EU project for the protection of Syria’s cultural heritage in order to allow a better coordination and exchange of information;
• Providing technical advice, capacities and information in order to allow the implementation of activities describe in Articles I, II and III of the present agreement.

At its 18th General Assembly, in Florence in November 2014, the ICOMOS Executive Committee tasked an ICOMOS Working Group on the safeguarding of the cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq, to cooperate with UNESCO and other international and national partners, and with the support of ICORP, to coordinate the activities of ICOMOS related to fostering cooperation and exchanges, monitoring, awareness raising, communication, training, assisting and planning for the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq, as long as the present conflict and its subsequent consequences continue.

Analysis and Conclusions of the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and ICCROM

The armed conflict situation in Syria and its continued escalation has affected the six World Heritage properties and has substantially limited the capacities to adequately sustain and protect their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The properties are increasingly threatened by a specific and proven imminent danger, in particular the Ancient City of Aleppo, which has been extensively destroyed and which runs the risk of further irreversible destructions, including its Citadel. The illegal excavations across archaeological sites and tells in Syria are a major source for the illicit trafficking of cultural objects and are causing extensive and irreversible damages to those sites, as well as  providing looted artefacts for sale  in  regional and international black markets.

It is recommended that the World Heritage Committee commend the DGAM and all heritage professionals in Syria and local communities who have made sustained efforts to protect cultural heritage and to monitor it closely.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies will continue to support the State Party in the identification of the necessary corrective measures and in the development of a Desired state of conservation for the properties, as soon as the situation allows for an assessment mission to be carried out.

Furthermore, it is recommended that systematic documentation of all damage incurred at the World Heritage properties be duly pursued whenever the situation allows, and that the World Heritage Committee reiterate its call to the State Party to safeguard damaged property through minimal first aid interventions to prevent theft, further collapse and natural degradation, and refrain from undertaking other measures until the situation allows for the development of a comprehensive strategy and action plan that respond to international standards and high-quality scientific methods. With regard to post-conflict reconstruction, it is recommended that the World Heritage Committee call on the State Party to plan the future of World Heritage properties according to international conservation charters and standards, in full consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies.

Until conditions improve, it is also recommended that the World Heritage Committee call upon all parties associated with the conflict in Syria to refrain from any action that can further damage the heritage of the country, in particular World Heritage properties and all sites included on the Tentative List, and to fulfil their obligations under international law by taking all possible measures to protect such heritage including the evacuation of World Heritage properties used for military purposes, and the halting of all damages that result from targeting World Heritage properties. It is further recommended that the World Heritage Committee call upon all parties associated with the conflict in Syria and the international community, in particular the neighbouring countries to Syria, to ensure effective measures for the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural objects, in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2199.